The Educational Network | Weaving The Rural Fabric

Unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev suffer from systemic exclusion — lacking basic infrastructure, planning recognition, and educational access. These scattered settlements face spatial disconnection and ongoing demolition threats, reinforcing cycles of marginalization. In this context, education becomes more than a learning tool — it acts as a political and spatial strategy for visibility, empowerment, and permanence.

This project asks:
How can a network of educational spaces serve as a spatial strategy for connecting and empowering unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev?
The proposal, titled The Educational Web, reimagines the school as a central public node that anchors community life and fosters connectivity between villages. These hubs combine education with cultural, social, and religious functions, offering infrastructure that is both rooted and responsive.

The design operates across multiple scales — identifying key road intersections for school placement and integrating each site into the existing informal village fabric. Architecturally, the system balances permanence and flexibility: underground structures house core functions such as mosques, libraries, and workshops, offering thermal protection and resilience; above ground, modular, lightweight units built from local materials (wood, fabric, metal, tarps) allow adaptation, mobility, and community participation.

Public spaces are shaped between the built elements — shaded courtyards, open classrooms, and gathering areas inspired by Bedouin traditions. The result is a network of learning environments that assert the right to stay, connect, and grow — offering not only classrooms, but tools for social resilience and spatial justice.